New York Times, Tuesday, October 31, 2017

This puzzle was inspired by an issue of Spielbox, a magazine devoted to the German boardgaming scene. After reading about some Martin Luther-themed games released to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Ninety-Five Theses, I thought, "if someone can make a board game out of this, then why not a crossword?"

Since the anniversary falls on a Tuesday, I decided that a straight-forward tribute puzzle would be appropriate (it was either that or wait until 2117 for the 600th anniversary, which falls on a Sunday).

Tribute puzzles require interesting theme entries, and I wanted to pack in as many as I could. Fortunately, MARTIN LUTHER breaks evenly into two 6-letter words, which are much easier to deal with than a 12-letter entry. Likewise, ALL SAINTS CHURCH is a constructor-friendly 15 letters long — thereby filling an entire row without forcing the placement of any black squares.

Still, after locking MARTIN and LUTHER into the corners and putting ALL SAINTS CHURCH in the 8th row (since it lacks an equal-length counterpart), I had limited flexibility in positioning the remaining theme entries (especially since PROTESTANT and REFORMATION had to be consecutive). Fill options were also somewhat constrained because more than half of the down answers had to cross multiple themers.

In my original manuscript, I clued DOOR non-thematically. Although this editorial change brings the theme square count to a hefty 73, my constructor's brain is bothered that the symmetrically placed 21-Across is not likewise thematic.

Finally, in my ideal world, the puzzle wouldn't assert that Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses on the door of All Saint's Church on 10/31/1517 since the only thing he did for sure that day was mail them to the Archbishop of Mainz. Per recent scholarship, the church door posting likely happened sometime later.

Great catch, the 500^th anniversary of MARTIN / LUTHER's posting of the "Ninety-Five Theses." Such a transformational point in history deserves commemoration. We get a listing of the PROTESTANT REFORMATION, ALL SAINTS CHURCH, where the theses were nailed onto the DOOR, and the banning of INDULGENCES.

That last one always amused me, INDULGENCES sort of a way to buy your place in heaven. I always imagine priests rubbing their hands together in a cigar smoke-filled back room, cackling about how much money they would make.

*ducking the oncoming lightning strike*

Clean grid, an achievement considering the high theme density. The NW and SE corners are especially difficult — when you have two theme answers running through an open space like this, the filling result is usually no bueno. Super tough to find a word that can fit in between MARTIN and PROTESTANT while making every one of the down crossings smooth. But Alex did it! Not a gluey bit up there.

The SE did suffer a little, what with NHU, but if that's your only gluey bit, it's a win. Some might even argue that Madame NHU of Vietnam should be fair game, as she was an important figure in politics.

A couple of great bonuses, too, in PASS RUSHER, PUGET SOUND, WINERIES, NOSE DIVE. Alex spread these out nicely to give himself a lot of filling flexibility while steering clear of the already crowded NW / SE. Beautifully done.

Tribute puzzles often fall flat, sort of like reading a Wikipedia page. (Which I didn't have to do to know what the PROTESTANT REFORMATION was, honest! Okay fine, I did. Okay fine, I didn't read it, and I'm pretending I know what it is. Are you happy now?) I would have loved something more playful, perhaps riffing on INDULGENCES?

Off to find my cigars …